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After graduating from art school in Detroit, I went to work in the automotive design industry. Although my job led me to work with global design teams and on major projects, I still felt like something was missing. I wanted (and often needed) to create with my hands and not just work on the computer. I felt like I needed to make what I wanted to make. I always wanted to have the designs be what I wanted, in the colors and materials I wanted and not be limited to what a corporate environment limits the choices to. With a family and limited space at the time, I started crocheting. Crochet hooks and yarns can be inexpensive to purchase when on a budget, and they can easily store in a small space. My great-grandmother had taught me when I was around 7 years old, and I remembered some of the basics but luckily there was the internet to teach me more how to chain stitch and single crochet a big square. As I learned more and more with crochet I found magic in the process of taking a ball of yarn and making a fully constructed garment out of it.
As time went on, and many hours on Ravelry, I began looking at knitting. The weight of the fabric and the versatility of the stitches intrigued me. In the beginning, my left hand was just not used to having such an active role in the process. As we managed to get space and a little more income, I found myself with a knitting machine from Ebay. I could now make the knitted items I dreamed about, but had struggled knitting by hand. Also, the mechanical and repetitive process of using the machine becomes meditative at night after a long day of work. And, I am able to make knit items that I adore in a matter of hours instead of months!
Over the past year I have attempted to knit again. I have learned that the continental style of knitting has helped me the most since it most resembles crochet, and my left hand is starting to become a little more educated in doing something other than holding the fabric. I am now on a streak of hand knitting socks. They take me forever, but I am on my second sock of my second pair. I have found that at home I work on either crochet, machine knitting, or spinning and then while traveling I work on the socks. They are portable and quickly show progress, which is necessary for me after being a crocheter and machine knitter where you can get through the item much faster. On vacations I am also trying to buy yarn to make into socks. The ones I have completed and working on I have mostly worked on during family trips, and I think of those great family times while I am working on them and now wearing the first pair. It actually now has become almost a hunt to find a yarn store while we are traveling to some of our off the beaten places.
Fiber arts have now become more than just a personal creative outlet. They have become a way for me to meditate and mentally process the stresses of the day. They have become memory holders of our trips and special time with the family. I am also now able to see in our daughters’ eyes how they look at crafts and appreciate the process and can find joy in making gifts, decorations, and just making something and enjoying the time being together. There are many beautiful things that would be missed out if any of it was in my life.
A few weeks ago I was running to the store and I asked my husband if he needed anything, his response caught me a bit by surprise – “buy more dish cloths for the kitchen.”
